The Storyville Museum in the French Quarter is now open well past sunset, offering a new nighttime experience called Storyville After Dark that runs every evening from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., with last entry at 9:30 p.m. The $35 after-hours experience adds period-costumed floor hosts and personal audio players to the museum's walk-through exploration of New Orleans' historic red-light district, giving visitors a moodier, more theatrical way to take in the exhibits once the sun goes down.
According to Biz New Orleans, the museum launched Storyville After Dark as a nighttime experience that uses advanced audio technology to present New Orleans and Storyville history after sunset, combining atmospheric lighting, music, video, and individualized audio tours. The museum itself lists the After Dark hours as nightly from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. with last entry at 9:30 p.m., according to the museum's own visitor guide. Evening admission runs $35 per person and includes what the museum calls its Immersive Audio Tour, per its FAQ page, and tickets can be bought online or at the door.
Guests who show up after dark are met by costumed floor hosts and handed personal audio players, letting them wander the galleries at their own pace rather than follow a guided group. Biz New Orleans reports that evening visitors receive these personal audio players for self-paced exhibit and artifact exploration, and the museum says the setup represents the only museum audio technology of its kind in New Orleans, according to the museum.
Why the Museum Added Evening Hours
The extended hours are aimed squarely at people who can't make it during the day. As New Orleans CityBusiness reports, the extended hours give convention attendees and business travelers more time to visit the French Quarter museum. The outlet also notes that evening visitors can use personal audio players to explore exhibits and artifacts at their own pace, echoing the self-guided format Biz New Orleans described.
Outside of the After Dark program, the museum's current FAQ lists general daily hours of 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with last admittance at 9:30 p.m. — meaning the building itself stays open from morning through late evening, with the After Dark ticket and audio experience layered on top during the nighttime hours. The museum recommends setting aside one to two hours to see everything, per its own planning guide.
Inside a Museum Built Around a Vanished District
The museum sits at 1010 Conti Street in the French Quarter, between Rampart and Burgundy Streets, a location the museum describes as being two blocks from the former Storyville district itself, per Biz New Orleans. Founded by New Orleans native and entrepreneur Claus Sadlier and opened in August 2024, the museum covers more than 7,000 square feet and explores the people, places, and culture of the city's historic red-light district, according to the outlet's reporting. Exhibits include artifacts, photographs, recreated environments, music, and storytelling, and the museum says it has continued adding exhibits, multimedia features, and historical artifacts since it opened.
Storyville itself has a well-documented history. The district sprung up on the outskirts of the Quarter in 1897, in an effort to cordon off and curtail rampant prostitution citywide, according to the French Quarter Journal. It operated as a neighborhood from 1897 until 1917, per New Orleans CityBusiness's earlier reporting, and its legacy is tied closely to the city's nightlife and the development of jazz, Biz New Orleans notes.
What's Changed Since the Museum's 2024 Debut
When CityBusiness first covered the museum in September 2024, it was open to the public Thursday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an admission price of $31.50. That early coverage described highlights including immersive sets, videos, and hyper-realistic holograms, giving visitors a sense of the production values behind the exhibits even before the nighttime program existed. The jump to nightly hours, a $35 evening ticket, and the new After Dark format marks a notable expansion from that initial weekend-only schedule.
The museum does maintain an age policy for anyone hoping to visit, day or night. Guests must be at least 18 years old to enter without an adult, and the museum's visitor guide specifies that those ages 13 to 17 may be admitted when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
